New York City Ballet Sunday Matinee, May 1st

SUNDAY MATINEE, MAY 1st, 'Jewels', 3:00 PM (Conductor: Otranto)

EMERALDS: *Scheller, *Finlay, *Laracey, *Scordato, *Woodward, *Ball, *Segin 

RUBIES: *Lovette, *Huxley, *Kikta [Solo Piano: Grant] 

DIAMONDS: Mearns, T. Angle 

* First Time in Role 


The May 1st performance of George Balanchine's 'Jewels' by New York City Ballet offered a mixture of new faces and familiar veterans in a ballet that we have watched from its opening night in April, 1967.  No matter the casting, it is always wonderful to encounter this beloved ballet (or is it three ballets?) anew.  Here's a video of three of the Company's current principals -- Sara Mearns, Tiler Peck and Teresa Reichlen -- discussing the ballet (4:39):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj5gbyZw1q0

Even though Balanchine's works were always closely tied to his musical choices -- Faure, Stravinsky, and Tschaikovsky here -- these three works have always been most closely associated in my mind with the ballerinas who created these roles for him -- Violette Verdy and Mimi Paul in 'Emeralds'; Patricia McBride and Patricia Neary in 'Rubies'; and Suzanne Farrell in 'Diamonds'.  

George Balanchine surrounded by 'Jewels' ballerinas (clockwise from lower left):
Suzanne Farrell, Mimi Paul, Violette Verdy, and Patricia McBride.
Photo by Martha Swope

While the men were important, except for Edward Villella in 'Rubies', they were primarily there to support and display Balanchine's chosen ballerinas.

In 'Emeralds', it is virtually impossible to erase Violette Verdy's performance as the first ballerina from my mind.

Violette Verdy in George Balanchine's 'Emeralds'.
Photo by Martha Swope

Her death this past winter ended her continuity with this role -- which she continued to coach for several companies around the world after she had stopped dancing in 1977.  Here's a link to an interview with Ms. Verdy and Mimi Paul (the other principal ballerina in 'Emeralds') published at the time they were coaching 'Emeralds' at Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2009:

http://ballet-dance.com/200904/articles/interview_verdypaul_20080300_speer.html

And here is a videotaped interview with Ms. Verdy and Conrad Ludlow discussing their roles in 'Emeralds' with Jennifer Dunning for the Balanchine Foundation's Memory Project (17:19):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShON2Rcd6uI

Many others have tried, but few have approached the heady perfume Ms. Verdy delivered in her 'Emeralds' role during those first ten years.  Ana Sophia Scheller was woefully miscast in this role.  Scheller is a hard-edged dancer much better suited to unsubtle bravura roles.  Here her pointes clattered and stabbed when they should have whispered and caressed the stage in quietly impressionistic bourrees.  Chase Finlay as her cavalier harked back to the strong, stolid original of Conrad Ludlow -- with perhaps a greater gloss of elegance.

Ashley Laracey and Andrew Scordato as the couple in the 'walking' pas de deux were appropriately aloof.  Ms. Laracey offered a windswept quality to the role and Mr. Scordato provided terrific support in the tricky partnering.  Let's hope that they both receive more opportunities like this to display their artistry.

In this pas de deux there should be a pulse that emanates from within the dancers almost like a heart beat.  It's tricky to achieve the balance between being inspired by the musical pulse clearly heard in Faure's music and seeming too mechanical.  In Mimi Paul's videotaped discussion with Nancy Goldner for the Balanchine Foundation Memory Project she describes how she worked to soften the 'notches' and achieve the mesmerizing quality of this role which should leave the audience rapt (19:36):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGDeCrWFrRY

The briskly effervescent pas des trois featured Kristen Segin, Indiana Woodward and Harrison Ball in their debuts.  While all three were very good, I was especially taken with the twinkle of Ms. Woodward in her too brief solo.

The 'Emeralds' 10-woman corps was filled with apprentices (Rachel Hutsell, Sasonah Huttenbach, Alston Macgill and Clara Ruf-Maldonado) and newly minted corps members (Miriam Miller and Mimi Staker stood out).  They provided a gorgeous framework for all of the featured debutants.

An earlier cast nearing the 'false' ending of Balanchine's 'Emeralds'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet 

As usual the 'false' ending of 'Emeralds' catches many in the audience off guard.  The resulting ovation, while deserved, detracts from the eloquence and poignancy of the epilogue that Balanchine added in 1976.  The transition from this 'finale' to the epilogue is somewhat jarring and possibly needed further thought from Balanchine.  The addition also makes the ballet seem overlong for many observers (although not for me).  Nonetheless, the solemn pas de sept for the seven leads is a wondrous thing -- filled with characteristic Balanchine motifs and flourishes that he uses to deal with the odd number of dancers involved.  It ends on a note of melancholy as the four women depart leaving the three men alone.

An earlier NYC Ballet cast in the final 'Pas de Sept' from Balanchine's 'Emeralds'.  
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

 
'Rubies' was led by Lauren Lovette and Anthony Huxley.  It was interesting to see them take on the iconic roles associated with Patricia McBride and Edward Villella.  Of course, we had seen Ms. Lovette dance the pas de deux with Jeffery Cirio (then of Boston Ballet and now of American Ballet Theatre) at the Kennedy Center Honors in December, 2014 (honoring Ms. McBride).  Here's a video clip (2:17): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTEmzNxb530

Both Ms. Lovette and Mr. Huxley had danced the pas de deux at the NYCB Fall Gala. 

Lauren Lovette and Anthony Huxley in Balanchine's 'Rubies'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

 This, however, was their first performance of the complete 'Rubies' and they were vibrant.  Ms. Lovette has a wonderfully vivacious persona that fits this role nicely.  There are details -- like the arm and hand gestures alluding to the Far East and some balances that were held too briefly for full impact -- that she can still improve.  Mr. Huxley produced a playfully athletic, out-going performance, while retaining his customary technical brilliance.

Emily Kikta as the tall girl was sexy, secure and Amazonian, offering an expansive, take-no-prisoners interpretation of the role and providing an effective contrast to Ms. Lovette's coquettish ballerina.
  

Emily Kikta in Balanchine's 'Rubies'.  
Photo by Kolnik for NYC Ballet

(For my money, Teresa Reichlin still 'owns' this role for the current generation -- a role originated by Patricia Neary and danced memorably over the years by Gloria Govrin, Colleen Neary, Maria Kowroski, and several others.)

Teresa Reichlin as the 'tall girl' in Balanchine's 'Rubies'.  
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

At the 1967 premier of 'Jewels', 'Diamonds' was lead by Suzanne Farrell and Jacques d'Amboise.

Jacques d'Amboise and Suzanne Farrell in Balanchine's 'Diamonds'.
Photo from Pinterest.

When Peter Martins joined the company from Denmark in 1970 he took over the role as Suzanne's cavalier from d'Amboise and it changed from a 'father proudly presenting his beautiful and gifted daughter' as one observer noted into a more romantic relationship of imperial equals. 

Peter Martins and Suzanne Farrell in Balanchine's 'Diamonds'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Farrell and Martins were one of the legendary partnerships of ballet and 'Diamonds' was one of their primary vehicles.  With Martins, Farrell was able to indulge her famously idiosyncratic tendencies, presenting different facets of the role at each performance.  Martins responded with ever more assured partnering that reflected and refracted the moods of his mercurial ballerina.  When Farrell abruptly left the company in 1969, Kay Mazzo took over the role, offering a more self-contained dynamic to her dancing in the pas de deux.  Farrell's shifting approaches to the role validated the choices of Miss Mazzo and future interpreters of the role .  It is an iconic role made malleable by its originator. 

During a NYCB seminar on the Monday after the May 1st performance, Jon Stafford called this performance of the 'Diamonds' pas de deux by Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle the 'most nearly perfect' he had ever seen.  Jon was Sara's cavalier when she made her debut in the role and I would judge their performance then more exciting, if somewhat tense.

Jon Stafford and Sara Mearns in Balanchine's 'Diamonds'.

Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Here, Sara and Tyler seemed perfectly attuned to each other -- dancing expansively and confidently and with exceptional rapport.
  

Tyler Angle and SaraMearns in Balanchine's 'Diamonds'.
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

Both Sara and Tyler have danced their roles with others -- Tyler notably with Maria Kowroski, and Sara most recently with Ask la Cour and Zachary Catazaro.  By all standards this was an exceptional performance by two artists at the peak of their artistry. 

The four demi-soloist couples and the twelve corps couples seemed to grasp the impact of occasion -- dancing the concluding polonaise with precision, grandeur and joy.

Demi-soloist and corps couples entrance for the finale of Balanchine's 'Diamonds'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The capacity audience responded with a huge, and hugely justified, ovation.

Miami City Ballet Matinee Performance on April 17th

Miami City Ballet, Saturday, April 17th, Gary Sheldon, Conductor

Heatscape (Bohuslav Martinu/Justin Peck):
First Movement:  Emily Bromberg, Renan Cerdeiro
Second Movement:  Tricia Albertson, Kleber Rebello
Third Movement:  Andrei Chagas, Jennifer Lauren, Shimon Ito

Viscera (Lowell Liebermann/Liam Scarlett):
Jeanette Delgado, Renato Penteado, Kleber Rebello, Jennifer Lauren, Callie Manning, Zoe Zien
Francisco Renno, Piano

Bourree Fantasque (Emmanuel Chabrier/George Balanchine):
First Movement:  Jordan-Elizabeth Long, Shimon Ito
Second Movement:  Simone Messmer, Rainer Krenstetter, Emily Bromberg, Samantha Hope Galler
Third Movement:  Nathalia Arja, Renato Penteado, Ashley Know, Neil Marshall, Zoe Zien, Chase Swatosh
Fourth Movement: Entire cast


Miami City Ballet was founded in 1985 and is just finishing its 30th Anniversary season.  It's week-long appearance at the Koch Theater was the capstone of the anniversary celebrations -- the first time the Company had performed at Lincoln Center and their first appearance in New York City since 2009.  They brought eight ballets spread over three programs on this visit.  Their music director, Gary Sheldon, conducted the New York City Ballet orchestra for all seven performances.

Lourdes Lopez, the artistic director of Miami City Ballet since 2012, commissioned 'Heatscape' from Justin Peck in 2015.  Justin used the Piano Concerto #1 by Bohuslav Martinu -- a composer whose 'Sinfonietta la Jolla' he had also used for his 'Paz de la Jolla' in 2013.  The well-known street artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey-- who created the 'Hope' poster of Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential campaign -- created the backdrop and Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung designed the costumes.

Company members in Justin Peck's 'Heatscape'.  Backdrop by Shepard Fairey and costumes by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung.  
Photo from Miami City Ballet website.

This video by Ezra Hurwitz and Justin Peck shows Justin imagining the choreography amidst Miami's Wynwood Walls -- a site where vivid street art is encouraged and celebrated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_w11RwHYuw 

'Heatscape' itself is a brilliant introduction to this company -- as sunny and open-hearted as its home city.  The choreography is athletic and complex, but most of all it is immensely fun to watch -- and hopefully to dance.

The curtain opens with the entire 17-member cast lined up across the back of the stage facing Fairey's backdrop -- a huge red and orange sunburst with a wide border in a dark blue and gold border across the bottom, both inspired by Indian mandala patterns.  They're wearing Bartelme & Jung's pale costumes -- short white dresses for the women and beige shorts with white tops for the men.  They turn and race to the front of the stage before beginning to dance to the jaunty opening of the first movement (Allegro moderato).  As the music shifts into a more contemplative mood a central couple (Emily Bromberg and Renan Cerdiero) emerges. 

Tricia Albertson and Kleber Rebello in the second movement of 'Heatscape'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik

In the second movement (Andante) a different couple (Tricia Albertson and Kleber Rebello) dances a sensual pas de deux.  There is a beautifully executed movement repeated several times, where Ms. Albertson rises through a hoop of Mr. Rebello's encircling arms.  Mr. Rebello must be incredibly strong to sustain Ms. Albertson in the air supported on his extended arms.

Miami City Ballet dancers in Justin Peck's 'Heatscape'.  Photo from Vanity Fair

The romping third movement (Allegro) is led by Andrei Chagas, Jennifer Lauren and Shimon Ito.  Peck often devises choreographic patterns which intrigue and sometimes deceive the observer -- here two concentric circles of five and then seven dancers each.  You initially think that you see a circle of men and a circle of women, but then you realize they are probably organized by height with a single tall woman mixed with four tall men and a shorter man with four short women.  By the time you've figured that out, the circles have grown to seven members each -- again seemingly organized by taller and shorter without regard to sex.  It reminded me of the moments in Balanchine's 'Agon' where the three quartets -- initially four men and two groups of four women -- suddenly become mixed and then resolve again by sex.  It is all enormous fun for the observer and obviously for the company.

Miami City Ballet dancers in Justin Peck's 'Heatscape'.  Photo from Vanity Fair

 At the end the cast gathers at the back of the stage and then race to the front as the curtain descends.

Liam Scarlett's 'Viscera' to Lowell Liebermann's 'Piano Concerto #1' was created for MCB in 2012 and has since also been danced by the Royal Ballet -- where Scarlett is resident choreographer.  The dark, partially translucent costumes are also by Scarlett. 

Jennifer Kronenberg and Miguel Guerra in Liam Scarlett's 'Viscera'.  Photo by Andrea Mohin for NYTimes

The murky lighting design is by John Hall.  I found what of Scarlett's choreography we could see through the gloom arduous with often clumsy partnering.  The 16-member-cast was led by Jennifer Carlynn Kronenberg, Jeanette Delgado and Miguel Guerra, but the entire group floated on and off stage seemingly at random. 

The program closed with Balanchine's 'Bourree Fantasque' to music of Emmanuel Chabrier.  The work was staged for the Miami company by Susan Pillare -- who had also staged it for the School of American Ballet's 2010 Workshop Performances.  It was one of the first ballets that Balanchine created -- in 1949 -- for New York City Ballet.

The first movement -- created for Tanaquil Le Clercq and Jerome Robbins -- is one of Balanchine's pairings of a tall, long-legged ballerina with a shorter partner.  Both Le Clercq and Robbins were well-known for their wit.
  

Tanaquil Le Clercq and Jerome Robbins in the first movement of Balanchine's 'Bouree Fantasque'.
Photo by George Platt Lynes

Here the Miamians Jordan-Elizabeth Long and Shimon Ito had great fun with the taller woman/shorter man paradigm.  In this movement the women all expertly manipulated fans while the men gave their best toreador impressions.

Balanchine created the second movement for Maria Tallchief and Nicholas Magallanes.  The ballerina -- a relative of the Waltz Girl in Balanchine's 'Serenade'and the Elegie ballerina from his 'Tschaivkosky Suite #3" --  fades in and out of the ensemble as she is pursued by her ardent suitor.  MCB's Simone Messmer and Rainer Krenstetter danced with poignance and longing as the thwarted lovers.

Simone Messmer and Rainer Krenstetter in the second movement of Balanchine's 'Bourree Fantasque'.
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NYTimes

Balanchine set the third movement on Janet Reed and Herbert Bliss.  The Miamians Nathalia Arja and Renato Penteado were dazzling in this performance.

The fourth movement brings the entire cast of 42 dancers on stage for a rousing finale featuring cadres of ballerinas from the three previous movements crisscrossing the stage in space devouring grand jetes.

Mass grand jetes by the women of the second movement  in the final movement of
Balanchine's 'Bourree Fantasque'.
Photo by Gene Schiavone

 The complexity of the patterns -- including more concentric circles -- that constantly change and resolve is extraordinary and offered a final example of the exuberance and joie de vivre that this company brought to the Koch Theater. 

Miami City Ballet dancers in the finale of Balanchine's 'Bourree Fantasque'.
Photo by Renato Penteado for Miami City Ballet

  

Program for the 2016 School of American Ballet Workshop Performances

The faculty of the School of American Ballet has announced the program for the 2016 Workshop Performances on Saturday, June 4th, and for the 2016 Workshop Gala on Tuesday, June 7th:

'The Four Temperaments', Hindemith, Balanchine
'Les Gentilhommes', Handel, Martins
'Danses Concertantes', Stravinsky, Balanchine

After a few years of an 'odds and ends' dance recital format, this year they're returning to a substantial Workshop program that honors the School's seriousness of purpose and offers rewards for the talented students it trains and the devoted audiences who attend the three Workshop Performances.

'The Four Temperaments'

'The Four Temperaments' was first staged by Ballet Society -- the immediate precursor of New York City Ballet -- in 1946 at the auditorium of the Central High School of Needle Trades.  Unlike the austere black-and-white leotard ballet that we will see this June, the original 1946 performances had bizarre costumes by the surrealist artist Kurt Seligmann.
  

Kurt Seligmann's sketch of costume designs for Balanchine's 'The Four Temperaments'.

According to many contemporary viewers Seligmann's costumes distracted from Balanchine's revolutionary choreography. 

Elise Reiman and Herbert Bliss in Kurt Seligmann's original costumes for Balanchine's 'The Four Temperaments'. 

Even before the first performance Balanchine pruned some of the greatest excesses of the costumes.
  

Maria Tallchief in Kurt Seligmann's costume for 'The Four Temperaments'.

When 'The Four Temperaments' re-entered the repertory of New York City Ballet in 1951, Seligmann's costumes had been completely scrapped -- replaced by black-and-white leotards that display Balanchine's choreography in pristine glory.

The commissioned score by Paul Hindemith was created in 1940.  Igor Stravinsky admired the music of Hindemith and probably urged his friend George Balanchine to work with him.  Hindemith initially suggested a work titled 'The Land of Milk and Honey' as a joint project in 1938, but he was unable to produce the score on Balanchine's time table.  In 1940 Hindemith offered to produce the first part of a score for a different ballet in one week.  This opening section of Hindemith's score for piano and string orchestra was first heard that year at one of Balanchine's informal musical evenings.  Among the musicians that evening were Nathan Milstein, Samuel Dushkin (for whom Stravinsky wrote the 'Violin Concerto') and Leon Barzin.  Barzin went on to conduct the first performance of 'The Four Temperaments' at Needle Trades and to become the first conductor for Ballet Society and then for New York City Ballet.

The conceit of 'The Four Temperaments' is the medieval theory that each individual is composed of varying amounts of four temperaments or 'humors' -- melancholic, phlegmatic, sanguinic, and choleric -- which collectively form each personality.  The structure of the ballet is first a series of three pas des deux which establish movement motifs that will recur; then sections for each of the four temperaments; followed by a finale.  There are a total of 25 dancers -- 19 women and 6 men.

Here's a short video clip of the New York City Ballet principal Adrian Danchig-Waring discussing, rehearsing and performing 'The Four Temperaments': 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRgViWiqqr8 

Balanchine's choreography is mostly a response to Hindemith's music.  The sections for the four temperaments have a tenuous relationship to those humors at best.   Balanchine uses the classical ballet vocabulary, but makes subtle alterations.  Often the relationship of the dancers to the audience shifts to profile or diagonal; knees are often bent; feet are flexed; hands, arms and wrists stray from classical positions.  

Justin Peck and Rebecca Krohn of NYC Ballet show the bent knees and profile poses characteristic of Balanchine's 'The Four Temperaments'.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The finale is like a fireworks display as four men lift their ballerinas in explosive grand jetes above the rest of the cast.  Here's a link to a video from San Francisco Ballet performing snippets from the Phlegmatic section and the finale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqOG3mJyl0

Suki Schorer is enlisting the help of several men from New York City Ballet -- Ask la Cour, Cameron Dieck, and Peter Walker -- in staging this modern masterpiece.

'Les Gentilhommes'

This year the SAB Workshop Gala on Tuesday, June 7th, will celebrate the School's Boys Program, which provides tuition free ballet training to male students.  The Boys Program is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.  Here's a video describing the program:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VllP_nNcWis

Listen for Jock Soto's comments about retirement -- Jock retired from the School's faculty at the end of 2015.

Peter Martins created 'Les Gentilhommes' in 1987 as a tribute to Stanley Williams who taught at the School of American Ballet from 1964 until 1997.  Peter Martins himself had studied with Williams at the Royal Danish Ballet before Williams left Copenhagen for SAB.  Williams' men's classes were legendary for producing some of the finest dancers in American ballet -- and for attracting ballet stars, including Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov, whenever they were in town.  Nine of Williams' students danced in the original cast -- Gen Horiuchi, Peter Boal, Carlo Merlo, Jeffrey Edwards, Michael Byers, Damien Woetzel, Richard Marsden, Cornell Crabtree and Runsheng Ying.

The cast of the 2011 School of American Ballet Workshop production of Peter Martins' 'Les Gentilhommes'.

Set to Georg Friedrich Handel's 'Concerto in F, Opus 6, #9' and the Largo from 'Concerto in F, Opus 6, #2', Martins choreography displays the refinement and elegance that Williams demanded of his students.  Through the costumes, lighting and movement, we are brought into the courtly world of the 18th century with allusions to fencing and dancing and formal rules of conduct.

Peter Martins and Arch Higgins are already working with the Advanced Men on 'Les Gentilhommes'.

'Danses Concertantes'  

Balanchine's 'Danses Concertantes' was created in 1944 for the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo.  Igor Stravinsky composed the score in 1941 as an orchestral work --  in effect, 'concert dances'.  The score is decidedly dancey and Balanchine found it inspiring -- twice.  The original 1944 production was lead by Alexandra Danilova (another legendary teacher at SAB) and Frederic Franklin.  Although the pick-up orchestras the Ballet Russe used on their perpetual tours struggled with the complexities of the score, it remained in their repertory until 1948.

Balanchine created new choreography for a second version for New York City Ballet's 1972 Stravinsky Festival -- he claimed that he couldn't remember the original steps.  Linda Yourth and John Clifford led the 1972 cast.  The same colorful sets and costumes designed by Eugene Berman were used for both the 1944 and 1972 versions -- they were particular favorites of Stravinsky.

Darci Kistler and Robert LaFosse led New York City Ballet's 1988 revival of the 1972 version.  Hopefully, Ms. Kistler will be involved in staging 'Danses Concertantes' for the SAB workshops.  

New York City Ballet dancers in a recent revival of Balanchine's 'Danses Concertante' led by Megan Fairchild and Andrew Veyette.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The cast consists of a principal couple and four color-coded trios of two women and one man.  They are introduced in a prologue -- a parade in front of Berman's colorful front curtain.  When that curtain rises there is a sequence of four pas des trois followed by a pas de deux for the lead couple and then a final parade for the entire cast.  

Balanchine's choreography is bubbly and effervescent -- like champagne -- but then quickly evaporates.  The whole ballet is colorful, clever and energetic.  It will provide a frisky, insouciant high note for the students at the end their program.

New York City Ballet Matinee on Sunday, February 7th

SUNDAY MATINEE, FEBRUARY 7, 3:00 PM

BALLO della REGINA: Megan Fairchild T. Peck, Garcia, Pollack, Adams, Maxwell, Gerrity [Conductor: Sill]
     pause
KAMMERMUSIK NO. 2: Krohn, la Cour, A. Stafford, Danchig-Waring [Conductor: Sill; Solo Piano: Grant]

TSCHAIKOVSKY SUITE NO. 3:  [Conductor: Capps]
     ELEGIE: Reichlen, Catazaro;
     WALTZ: Laracey, J. Angle;
     SCHERZO: Pereira, Carmena;
     THEME & VARIATIONS: Tiler Peck M. Fairchild, Veyette De Luz

The all-Balanchine program on Sunday, February 7th, gave us a chance to revisit two works that we'd not seen in quite a while -- 'Ballo della Regina' and 'Kammermusik #2' -- two very different works that Balanchine created in January, 1978.

For 'Ballo' Balanchine used the ballet music from Verdi's opera 'Don Carlo'.  Nancy Goldner writes that while there is a hint of a plot (about a fisherman searching for a perfect pearl) the ballet's real "subject is technique".  The ballet was created for Merrill Ashley and Ib Andersen.  Mr. B. used Ashley's legendary technique for a brilliant series of solos and duets with Andersen, interspersed with variations for four female soloists backed by a corps of 12 women.

George Balanchine working on 'Ballo della Regina' with Merrill Ashley and Ib Andersen.

On the 7th we had expected to see Tiler Peck make her debut in 'Ballo della Regina', but instead Tiler was replaced by Megan Fairchild (and in turn Tiler replaced Megan in 'Theme and Variations').  While Megan is a technically accomplished ballerina, she lacks the ultimate radiance that Tiler might have offered in this role.  Gonzalo Garcia was elegant as her cavalier.

Megan Fairchild in 'Ballo della Regina'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Of the four soloists -- Sara Adams, Emilie Gerrity, Alexa Maxwell, and Brittany Pollack -- I was particularly struck by Ms. Pollack and Ms. Gerrity in this performance.

For 'Kammermusik #2' -- which premiered just two weeks after 'Ballo della Regina' -- Balanchine used the second of seven pieces of chamber music (kammermusik in German) that Paul Hindemith composed between 1923 and 1933.  It is really a rather acerbic concerto for piano and orchestra.  In the ballet, two principal couples dance to the piano part in counterpoint to an ensemble of eight men who dance to the orchestra music.  The original principals were Karin von Aroldingen, Colleen Neary, Sean Lavery and Adam Luders. 

'Kammermusik #2' has a quality of austere vivacity that Sunday's cast -- Rebecca Krohn with Ask la Cour and Abi Stafford with Adrian Danchig-Waring -- captured fairly well.  However, Ms. Krohn and Ms. Stafford are not physically well matched, which becomes obvious when they dance together. Ms. Krohn tends more toward austerity while Ms. Stafford tends more toward vivacity.

Abi Stafford and Rebecca Krohn with the male ensemble in 'Kammermusik #2'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The male ensemble was very well drilled in their spiky, convoluted visual counterpart to the orchestra.  At times they offer an eerie, pared-down premonition of the corps in Jerome Robbins' 'Glass Pieces' from 1983.

The male ensemble in 'Kammermusik #2'.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The program closed with Balanchine's 'Tschaikovsky Suite #3' from 1947 ('Theme and Variations') and 1970 (first three movements).  This ballet always seems schizophrenic to me.  The first three movements are in Balanchine's lush romantic mode (a la 'Serenade') with long floating chiffon gowns, loose hair and shadowy lighting behind that annoying painted scrim.  The final movement is in his Russian imperial style with tutus and tiaras amid glittering chandeliers and grand columns.

Teresa Reichlin and Zachary Catazaro were suitably rapturous in the opening 'Elegie'.  Ashley Laracey and Jared Angle were able to wring some romance out of the 'Valse Melancolique' -- though more melancholy than waltz.  Erica Pereira and Antonio Carmena swept through the upbeat 'Scherzo' in a whirlwind of leaps and turns.

Tiler Peck in the 'Theme and Variations' movement of 'Tschaikovsky Suite #3'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Tiler Peck was in fine classical form in 'Theme and Variations', dancing with musical elegance and vivacity.  But Andrew Veyette seemed to be on auto-pilot --  either disinterested or distracted.  The four demi-soloist couples and the eight corps couples danced the concluding polonaise with precision and panache.  This viewer became more engaged with the frame than with the couple at its center.

Tiler Peck (center left) with Joaquin De Luz and other New York City Ballet dancers in the final moments of Balanchine's 'Tschaikovsky Suite #3'.
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

It's clear from watching this program that the top ranks of the Company are not uniformly engaged by the remarkable legacy of its founder, George Balanchine.  It's principal Ballet Mistress, Rosemary Dunleavy, does a remarkable job of keeping the ensemble parts in shape, but the other Ballet Masters, who work more closely with the principal dancers and soloists, do not uniformly have the same level of knowledge and commitment to the Balanchine legacy. It showed in this program.

NYC Ballet Performance, Sunday, October 11th

SUNDAY MATINEE, OCTOBER 11, 3:00 PM

JENNIE SOMOGYI FAREWELL PERFORMANCE

TSCHAIKOVSKY SUITE NO. 3: ELEGIE: Krohn, Janzen; WALTZ: LeCrone, J. Peck; SCHERZO: Scheller, Carmena; THEME & VARIATIONS: T. Peck, Veyette [Guest Conductor: Paroni]

      intermission

LIEBESLIEDER WALZER: Mearns, Hyltin, Somogyi, Laracey, la Cour, J. Angle, T. Angle, J. Peck [Solo Pianos: Walters, Sill]

This program was initially listed in the Company's subscription brochure as 'All Balanchine' with 'Liebeslieder Walzer' performed first, followed by 'Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3'.  When the Company announced that this would be Jennie Somogyi's farewell performance the order of the two works was reversed so that the program would end with Jennie's performance in 'Liebeslieder'.

In 1970 Balanchine decided to choreograph the first three movements of Tschaikovsky's 'Suite No. 3' to add to the fourth movement, 'Tema con Variazioni', that he had created in 1947 -- as 'Theme and Variations' -- for Ballet Theatre with  Alicia Alonzo and Igor Youskevitch as the leads.  'Theme and Variations' had entered the New York City Ballet repertory in 1960, with Violette Verdy and Edward Villella leading that cast.

He mounted the entire suite as 'Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3' in late fall of 1970 with costumes and scenery by Nicolas Benois.  The first three movements -- 'Elegie', 'Valse Melancolique', and 'Scherzo' -- are danced in a shadowy ballroom behind a scrim painted with a smokey swirl.  The women are in flowing ankle-length dresses in shades of lavender with touches of glitter and scarves drifting from their shoulders.  Their hair is loose.  The three men are in satin shirts with ruffles at the neck and matching pants.  These movements were created by Balanchine while he was still recovering from the departure of his muse, Suzanne Farrell, earlier in 1970.  They are not considered first rate Balanchine.

Here's a five-minute clip from the Company with Zachary Catazaro discussing 'Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uylTAmEu_rI

'Elegie' is probably the best of these first three murky movements.  Russell Janzen danced with passion and Rebecca Krohn, as his elusive muse, slipped in and out of his grasp -- eventually retreating back into anonymity among the corps of six women.

In the following 'Valse Melancolique' Megan LeCrone and Justin Peck danced the unprepossessing waltz with six women swirling around them.  

Ana Sophia Scheller and Antonio Carmena breezed through the energetic 'Scherzo' accompanied by eight more women. Gradually the corps from 'Elegie' and 'Valse Melancolique' return and the stage is filled with twenty corps women. The full corps wafts off stage and Ana Sophia and Antonio exit into opposite wings in gigantic grand jetes -- followed by a black-out.

The distracting scrim is raised and the lights blaze on to the full glory of a ballroom with marble columns lit by three large crystal chandeliers for the fourth movement, 'Tema con Variazioni'.  The principal couple, Tiler Peck and Andrew Veyette, backed by a symmetrical array of four demi-soloist women and eight corps women, perform the theme.  The costumes for the women are classical tutus with bodices of aqua (corps), teal (demi-soloists), and white (Ms. Peck) trimmed with gold and lace.  Mr. Veyette wears white tights and a white tunic trimmed in gold.
  

Tiler Peck in 'Tema con Variazioni' from George Balanchine's 'Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3'.
 Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The variations unspool in various combinations of the principals with demi-soloist and corps women -- ending with a long, technically demanding adagio for the principals.  Then with a roll of drums eight corps couples, then four demi-soloists couples, and finally the principal couple take the stage for the grand polonaise that concludes the ballet.

Tiler Peck danced this exacting role with precise radiance.  Unfortunately, Andrew Veyette, while technically capable, danced like a robot -- bereft of personality or enthusiasm.  A friend who was watching from the fourth ring with opera glasses said Andrew looked like 'he was really pissed off'.  Unfortunately, Andrew's disengaged, surly demeanor put a real damper on the entire movement.

Among the corps in this work I must note Alec Knight, an apprentice, and Silas Farley -- tall men who both danced with contagiously expansive joy.  Claire Kretzschmar stood out among the demi-soloist women.  Apprentices in the corps of the first three movements included Miriam Miller, Rachel Hutsell, Sasonah Huttenbach, Alston Macgill and Clara Ruf-Maldonado -- quite a showing for the newest generation arriving from the School of American Ballet.

On the podium Paulo Paroni, a guest conductor, led a generally bland, workmanlike performance of the Tschaikovsky work.

After the intermission we were treated to Balanchine's 'Liebeslieder Walzer' choreographed to the Opus 52 and Opus 65 sets of 'love-song waltzes' composed by Johannes Brahms for vocal quartet and piano four-hands.  All of the poems that Brahms used are by Friedrich Daumer, except for the last waltz of Opus 65 where he used a poem by Goethe.  Balanchine created the work in 1960.  The original cast was Diana Adams with Bill Carter, Melissa Hayden with Jonathan Watts, Jillana with Conrad Ludlow, and Violette Verdy with Nicholas Magallanes.

Here's a link to Jillana and Ludlow dancing in the first half of 'Liebeslieder' which was filmed in 1961 I believe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2UhRfhoHTI

And here is another link to a YouTube video of Violette Verdy discussing the creation of 'Liebeslieder' with Damian Woetzel.  It includes rather stolid demonstrations by Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle (the 'Liebeslieder' section starts at about 29:52 and continues to about 50:29):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fFK6-LsQEU

Balanchine said of this piece, "In the first act, it is the real people who are dancing.  In the second act it is their souls".

At this performance the four couples were Sterling Hyltin with Jared Angle, Ashley Laracey with Justin Peck, Sara Mearns with Ask la Cour, and Jennie Somogyi with Tyler Angle.  The musicians were Andrews Sill and Susan Walters, pianists, with Boya Wei, soprano, Melissa Fajardo, mezzo-soprano, Blake Friedman, tenor, and Zachary James, bass.  The music is performed at the side of the stage by the pianists and singers in period costumes.

Justin Peck and Jennie Somogyi in the first act of Balanchine's 'Liebeslieder Walzer'.
 Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

In the first half the four couples waltz in various combinations in a Viennese salon of the mid-19th century designed by David Hays for the 1984 revival.  The dancers wear beautiful period costumes by Karinska -- for the women long satin ball gowns decorated with ribbons and lace, fingerless lace gloves and low-heeled satin slippers; for the men black tail coats with white gloves.  In the first act small dramas are enacted within the confines of the ballroom dance idiom.  As the first half winds down, the couples open the French doors of the set and go out into the starry night.

The curtain is lowered between the two halves.  Damien Woetzel tells the story that at its premiere at City Center someone rushed backstage to report that lots of people had left after the first act.  Balanchine replied, "Yes, but look how many have stayed."  (My George would have been among those who left.)

In the second half the women have changed into toe shoes and dresses with calf-length tulle skirts and satin bodices with black lace trim, while the men have shed their white gloves.  After the ensemble opening for all four couples, the second act is basically a series of exquisite pas de deux. Due to the substitution of classical technique in the second act for ballroom dance in the first, these waltzes are more inherently theatrical and the dramas depicted seem more expansive. 

Sara Mearns and Ask la Cour in the second act of Balanchine's 'Liebeslieder Walzer'.
 Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

The set ends with Jennie Somogyi (in the role created by Violette Verdy) and Tyler Angle in an impossibly tender and yearning pas de deux.   You can watch part of it here in a video clip from the New York Times:

http://vp.nyt.com/video/2015/10/12/36005_1_nycb-walzer_wg_360p.mp4

Jennie Somogyi and Justin Peck performing in the second act of Balanchine's 'Liebeslieder Walzer'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

As the final waltz is performed by the musicians, the dancers slowly drift back into the ballroom -- once again in their 'real people' clothes.  They sit listening intently to the music, applauding politely at the end.

At this performance of 'Liebeslieder' we certainly had luxury casting.  And maybe because it was Jennie's farewell performance the entire cast performed with extra attention to detail and nuance.  Sara who inherently infuses her dancing with drama digs deeply here playing off Ask's natural reserve.  Sterling uses her coltish, flirtatious persona to enliven her dancing with Jared, always ardent and attentive.  Ashley and Justin are wonderfully young and impetuous together.  Tyler provides dashing support for Jennie -- who made her final performance on this stage seem like an evanescent flame extinguished too soon.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Following the normal curtain calls for the 'Liebeslieder' dancers and musicians, there was a long ovation for Jennie Somogyi with the presentation of bouquets from each of the Company's principal men, starting with Tyler, single roses from each principal woman, a bouquet from Peter Martins, more single roses from other members of the Company, a bouquet from Jennie's husband and a nosegay from her shy, young daughter.  Finally bursts of confetti and streamers rained down.  Here's a video posted by a member of the audience:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFLFCVjSFnU

And here's another video clip of Jennie dancing Balanchine's 'Episodes' with Craig Hall -- they had danced together in 'Episodes' the day before her farewell performance:  

http://balletoman.com/2031-flash-footage-episodes.html

Jennie was a true Balanchine ballerina, whether in his more romantic and dramatic pieces like 'Liebeslieder Walzer' or the more austerely demanding leotard works like 'Episodes'.  And though her stage career was interrupted by serious injuries, Jennie Somogyi returned again and again to demonstrate why she was an essential link in our understanding of Balanchine's varied repertory.

Jennie Somogyi gives a farewell salute to the audience at the end of her farewell performance.
Photo by Julieta Cervantes for the NY Times